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Over the next few months, we will be highlighting the special education leaders who participated in our 22-23 Special Education Leadership Fellowship. The fellowship was paid for by Federal CSP funds and offered an intensive leadership development opportunity specific to special education. Some of the activities included monthly PD, development of a strategic plan, school site visits and reviews, individual coaching, and participation in a community of practice. The yearlong fellowship was facilitated by SELF NOLA in partnership with Bluum.
In addition, each leader will be asked to share a “favorite resource.”
Meet Danielle Frederick
Student Services Director | Treasure Valley Classical Academy
Tell us about your school, your role, and why you chose to participate in the SELF Leadership Program:
Treasure Valley Classical Academy has been my home for the last 4 years and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to be part of their opening in 2019 and the continual expansion. Our focus is on providing a wonderfully rich, classical education with a huge emphasis on developing future citizens who show great virtue and can see the beauty in the world around them. My role in the school started out in a Kindergarten classroom where every day was filled with wonder and aha moments with the curriculum.
But more than that, a place where they learned order and rules, self-regulation and self-government. They learned how they fit into the world and how their actions affected the common good…the beginnings of civilization as I had posted outside of my classroom as a constant reminder of the hard work that happened between those four walls. Seeing those Kindergarteners thrive and reach their goals on a daily basis made me for the first time in a long time want more for myself, to be a bigger part of the larger picture. I spoke often to my school leader about wanting to step out of the classroom at some point, in what capacity I wasn’t quite sure at the time.
One morning, I was asked to take over the Student Services Director position and I happily accepted. It has been a very challenging endeavor but very rewarding. I get to work with the best people and get to support the faculty, staff, and students within the building. My creativity and love for learning has been a big asset to me in this position and I have been taking advantage of any opportunity to further my knowledge through trainings, webinars, and my contacts at Bluum. I was so excited for the opportunity to join the SELF Leadership Program and to see how I could bring that knowledge back to help improve things within my building.
Fun Fact:
I consider myself a very creative person. I love taking on new challenges and learning new crafts during my free time weather it be teaching myself how to crochet, learning the art of sourdough bread making, wood working, sketching – nothing is off the table! It is what truly brings be joy. This is one of the reasons being in education intrigued me. It’s a constant balance of learning new things and being able to problem solve or communicate my new knowledge to others. A constant creative mind-puzzle of sorts, which I thrive on.
Biggest Take Away from the Leadership Cohort:
My biggest take away so far from the SELF Leadership Program has been MTSS. It is a direction I wanted our school to go into and this program has been a great way for me to take all of the ideas in my head and to put them into a logical plan. We now have an MTSS team working together to have discussions on student success and ways we can better support all involved, faculty, students, and parents.
Favorite Resource: Danielle’s Progress Monitoring Templates
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